Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What about the recipe?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • What about the recipe?

    I am aspiring to throw my hat in the ring and start a business around my homebrews, but with all the activity in the craft beer market, I feel I have to ask the question: with all the recipes that are available in books and onlne, what is to stop someone from simply taking one of those recipes, brewing the beer and selling it? How would anyone know where the recipe came from? If it makes a good beer, won't it sell?

    I don't mean to ask the question in terms of "what else do you need but good beer to start a beer company?" but more from the respect of how hard can crafting beer be when there are so many good recipes available to the public? If you wanted to make a Guiness clone, for example, why not brew five or six recipes you found online, pick which one you like best and start mass producing it?

  • #2
    "Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, and Doctor."
    If your intention is to make a Guiness-type beer, go ahead and find an online/book recipe. Will your brewery be sucessful? Probably not. I've brewed in several micros and brewpubs before starting my own. I came in with a very developed recipe book. My recipes help get the engine started but MANY other things have help to keep it going: Marketing, strategy, business sense, knowing when to hold back on expansions, knowing when not to. Having good (read as: sellable) beer is not the whole answer. What happens when your glycol system take a sizeable crap on you? Who fixes it? You? Glycol-repair man (at $95.00/hour)? Who will develop your brand? Who will manage your business infra-structure day-to-day? Who will make sure the bills are paid or managed? Who will fill out the Brewer's Report of Operations (shutter )?
    Bottom line: MUCH more to a successful brewery than a good recipe. Good start though.
    Prost!
    dave
    Glacier Brewing Company
    406-883-2595
    info@glacierbrewing.com

    "who said what now?"

    Comment


    • #3
      That happens all the time! I mean, most brewers learn about recipe formulation by using recipes, changing things around, getting a feel for the ingredients and how they interact. If something works well for you, use it!

      As has been discussed in other threads, there's no such thing as an "exclusive" recipe. We all have access to the same ingredients, and there's no one checking to make sure we use them in a unique way. Besides, when you factor in your equipment layout, batch size, yeast strain, fermenter shape, ingredient suppliers and brewing technique, your beer will end up tasting like itself anyway...

      Cheers, Tim

      Comment


      • #4
        Well, that's all part of my point. I know there's a lot more involved than just the beer, just like any other company. But it just seemed unreasonable to me that every recipe would be exclusive. It may not be so much the flavor of the beer but the brand loyalty that the drinker feels, especially when you have two beers that taste almost the same.

        Comment


        • #5
          "especially when you have two beers that taste almost the same."

          Just like rock and roll, man. How many times have you heard songs from two different bands that sound nearly the same? In rock music, there are only so many chords, combinations of chords, lyrics, tone qualities, etc. that exist, so you're naturally going to have some overlap between songs. Same thing in brewing. There are only so many grains, grain combinations, hops, yeasts, process nuances, etc.

          Rock also has various styles and genres, just like beer. In rock and roll, the challenge for bands is to stand out. One way that bands stand out is by creating music that defies or challenges pre-existing styles and expectations. Think of innovators like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, Nirvana, Neil Young (to a certain extent), The Beastie Boys. I believe breweries face the same challenges in attempting to stand out, to be innovative. Brewers need to defy or challenge styles and expectations.

          For example, IPA seems to be a big deal for a lot of brewers and consumers these days. So, when creating a recipe for an IPA, the challenge is to distinguish your IPA from the thousands of IPAs that are out there - at least distinguishing your IPA from the others within your own market area. Now, sure you can go whacky on your hop selection, dump 25 pounds of hops into your 3 bbl kettle then dry-hop with another 25 pounds (I'm exaggerating), but that's what everyone else does. Find another way of creating an IPA that stands out - even beyond the techniques other brewers use to stand out. Use an unheard of malt, some goofy yeast strain, whatever. Add to that, a stand-out out name for the IPA, distinguishing packaging or presentation and you've created a unique IPA.

          Let me add this: Personally, I don't worry about a beer being a "true" anything. I've heard consumers and brewers alike say something like, "well, that's not a true pilsner," or, "this doesn't taste like a true Scotch Ale." Don't beat yourself over the head trying to adhere to a rigid standard of style or tradition. It's your beer, it's your creation, it's your art and it's your interpretation.

          "It's your thang/Do whatcha wanna do/I cain't tell ya/Who to sock it to"

          By the way, I really dig the "Dr. StrangePork."

          Rock on, brother,
          Tsewong
          Mike Hiller, Head Brewer
          Strangeways Brewing
          2277-A Dabney Road
          Richmond, VA 23230
          804-303-4336
          www.strangewaysbrewing.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by tsewong73
            Let me add this: Personally, I don't worry about a beer being a "true" anything. I've heard consumers and brewers alike say something like, "well, that's not a true pilsner," or, "this doesn't taste like a true Scotch Ale." Don't beat yourself over the head trying to adhere to a rigid standard of style or tradition. It's your beer, it's your creation, it's your art and it's your interpretation.
            I agree completely!

            Beer styles evolved over time as brewers, using local ingredients and water sources, developed their recipes. AND, their customers bought the ones that they liked to drink!

            Today's brewer has access to pretty much every kind of malt, hops, yeast and adjunct ever available, and science has made water chemistry at least somewhat manageable. You can brew just about any beer that you can imagine, so limiting yourself to duplicating what a brewer in Burton, or Pilsen, or Dublin, or St.Louis was able to brew strikes me as, at best, unimaginative!

            Cheers, Tim

            Comment

            Working...
            X